News
On March 20th, the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MWF) organised a weeding and planting activity in the Mondrain Nature Reserve in Henrietta. This activity included some 15 members of the MWF’s Fauna team who gave a helping hand in this project. An interdepartmental collaboration which is often organised through the organisation which, not only helps in implementing the goals of the project, but also creates a strong bond among the whole MWF team.
Early morning, everything was already set for a hard labour’s day. 4 vehicles helped bring the team, the seedlings as well as the necessary equipment in Mondrain Nature Reserve. Hoes, pickaxes, forks, tree poppers, cutters, pruning shears, and buckets were used on that day for their relative purposes.
Giani Abajee (Flora Conservation Biologist), organised to split the group into 3 teams. One was focused on the weeding work, with the objective to create space for the native and endemic seedlings to be planted. Another team specialised in mulching. This is a process that consists of cutting in small pieces the removed invasive trees. These pieces would then be put just under the planted trees to keep moisture and prevent invasive weeds from growing rapidly. The third team concentrated on the planting part. This consisted of digging holes, adding compost, putting the plants in soil, adding the mulch, and then watering the plants.
Some 131 seedlings of endemic and native species were put in soil that day regrouping 17 species, namely Acalypha integrifolia, Albizia vaughanii, Barleria observatrix, Cassine orientalis, Coptosperma borbonicum, Dianella ensifolia, Dracaena concinna, Gagnebina pterocarpa, Hibiscus genevii, Ochna mauritiana, Poupartia borbonica, Premna serratifolia, Ruizia boutoniana, Senecio lamarckianus, Syzygium pyneei, Terminalia bentzoe and Zanthoxylum heterophyllum.
This activity is part of the Mondrain extension project entitled ‘Promoting climate change actions through the restoration, development of ecotourism and participative activities in the Mondrain Reserve, Mauritius’ which officially kickstarted on 1st March.
This project has the financial support of the European Union for 5 years during which various activities and actions are planned. The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation also recently renewed its conservation partnership with Medine for the management and conservation of Mondrain. The renewal features an addendum to significantly extend the lease until 2073, as well as increase the initial site by an additional 5 hectares, effectively doubling the total area of the reserve.
